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Can advertising and paywalls coexist?

You’re either for ads, or you’re against them. You either think ads are the way to monetize your content, or you think paywalls are the answer.

It’s one or the other. Never both. Why is that?

The more I dig into the advertising debate, the more I find myself advocating for a mixed monetization approach that includes clean advertising, paid subscriptions, affiliate-based programs, and anything else that puts money back into the publishing pot at the end of the rainbow.

Monetizing a publication is about maximizing the earning potential of its individual parts, not just one thing over another.

It’s an unpopular position to take at the moment, but advertising and paywalls can live in tandem. It’s not a winner-take-all system.

“If you take out all of the advertising and just make reader-generated revenue, you’d have to get to Netflix numbers of subscribers before you start making any real money.” - Simon Owens, quoted in a WSJ article about Medium’s new system

“What's weird is that the NYT cares more for people who will never buy a subscription than people who might.” - @atrios

Platforms pushing subscriptions as a cure-all should be met with suspicion from us and the media.

Don't get me wrong: paywalls are part of the solution. But, monetization works best if publishers focus holistically on growing revenue. This means advertising has its role, too.

Find the best partners. Pick companies who share your vision. Work with people who don’t try and lock you into one model of monetization.

AdTech News And Editorial

In the ’90s, no one foresaw the fraud, commoditization, ad blockers, brand-safety issues, or clickbait battles that now trouble the industry. Hence the renewed interest in subscriptions, despite the model's mixed past record.

The Financial Times has determined that a host of advertising technology companies offered counterfeit, or “spoofed,” FT ad space, suggesting that some of the industry’s major players are unable to prevent the fraudulent tactic.

Ad Blocking

The UK has one of the highest rates of adblocking worldwide, with over a third (39%) of consumers using an adblocker, resulting in a loss of more than £2.9bn in publisher revenue in 2017, according to report by OnAudience.com.

Publishing

Six publishing sources, requesting anonymity out of fear of angering Google, said their ads load slower than their content on AMP, and that is part of the reason why they make less money per pageview from AMP than they do from their own websites.

Programmatic

Adobe is requiring that every ad tech partner it works with discloses each and every fee it charges both marketers and publishers. If ad tech companies decline, Adobe won't work with them, the company said.

In a move designed to improve the experience of an ad-supported internet, the heads of the 4A's, ANA and the IAB have come together to ask the Coalition for Better Ads to adopt a system that would stem the tide of poor ad formats.

Medium opens its Partner Program to all, creating the first open paywall for writers and publishers online. Enroll in the program, publish instantly … and earn money based on how deeply your story resonates with members.